Puppy Food

Puppies - For approximately the first 6 weeks of life, a puppy will be nursing. At the age of 6-8 weeks, the puppy will be ready to eat on her own. Dogs have the widest range of normal adult body sizes among any mammal -- think of a Chihuahua next to an Irish Wolfhound! Because of this diversity, puppies will grow at different rates, depending on the breed. However, regardless of their breed or normal adult size, all puppies are little growth machines. Most of them will reach at least half of their adult size within their first 6 months of life. Larger breeds will grow at an even faster rate than their toy cousins. All of this growth creates big nutritional demands on little puppies. By the time they reach full maturity, many dogs will have increased their birth weight by 40 to 80 times.

Puppy Nutrition - Puppies need more protein than adult dogs. Not only do puppies use protein for energy and normal body maintenance, they also depend on it to build growing bones, muscle and tissue. Although puppies require more protein and other nutrients than adult dogs, they also have smaller digestive tracts, so their ability to consume and process food is limited. This limitation makes it necessary to feed puppies more meals throughout the day, rather than restrict them to one daily feeding. Puppy food must not only be rich in protein, it must also have high quality, highly digestible protein sources. Puppies that are fed adult formulas or puppy foods with low quality protein sources will have to consume larger quantities of food to meet their nutritional requirements. This can contribute to gastro intestinal problems, over-growth and the buildup of fatty tissues that will increase the risk of obesity later in life. You can ensure that your puppies receive the nutrition they need, without increasing the risk of overeating, by purchasing a quality puppy food formulated for the pet's breed or size.

Large Breed Puppies - Giant and large breed puppies (dogs that will reach 55 pounds or more as adults) have special dietary needs. The goal when feeding these pets is to encourage their normal growth, but to make sure that this growth doesn't become too rapid. When it does, the puppy can develop a host of painful and debilitating skeletal problems. You should weigh their large breed puppies at least once a week. If a puppy's weight spikes up suddenly, a veterinarian should be consulted and the diet should be adjusted. Too much or too little calcium can cause bones to develop abnormally. Overfeeding is one of the most common problems and it can also predispose a large or giant breed dogs to develop hip dysplasia and other skeletal problems. What typically happens in these cases is that the body grows too quickly, putting undue stress on the soft tissue supporting the puppy’s developing joints. This causes the joints to become misaligned, leading to painful deformities, which can plague the dog for his entire life. Dog food manufacturers have done an excellent job of balancing the nutritional and developmental needs of large breed puppies with special formulas. These foods provide the nutritional ingredients that a giant puppy needs to reach her normal adult size, yet at the same time they help control the rate of growth so it does not occur too quickly and put undue stress on the pet's developing skeletal system. There are no regulatory guidelines on what constitutes a large breed puppy formula, so products vary from manufacturer to manufacturer.

Large breed puppy formulas accomplish this balancing act by incorporating some or several of the following approaches:
Limiting the amount of fat in large breed puppy food -- Fat is a more dense source of calories and energy than protein. By limiting it, large breed formulas control the puppy's rate of growth and weight. At the same time, these formulas furnish enough fat to meet the high energy demands of a growing Great Dane.
Controlling the level of calcium -- Studies have show that high calcium levels in the diet are a leading cause of large breed puppies developing skeletal problems. Large breed puppy formulas have carefully measured calcium levels to meet growth requirements, but avoid over-loading. (For this reason, large breed puppies should never be given calcium supplements.)
Increasing carbohydrate levels -- Some large breed puppy formulas have more dietary fiber than other puppy foods. This helps the puppy feel full, without delivering the high energy level of more fat-rich foods.

In the past, some people believed that high protein levels in puppy food led to overly rapid growth in large breed puppies. However, recent studies suggest that this has been overstated.

You must play an active role in keeping their large breed puppies from growing too quickly by avoiding overfeeding. Follow feeding directions on the puppy food label. However, as stated earlier, weigh large breed puppies regularly and consult a veterinarian if there are sudden sharp spikes in the pet's weight.

Small Breed Puppies - Just as their larger cousins do, small breed puppies have their own specific nutritional requirements. They have higher metabolism rates than larger puppies, so they burn more calories. At the same time, small dogs also have smaller stomachs. Together, these factors create a need for a puppy food that is more energy and calorie dense, while being very digestible, and at the same time easy for a tiny mouth to chew. Pet food manufacturers have addressed this need by creating specially formulated small puppy foods.

Puppy Feeding Routines and Schedules- As a rule of thumb, if a puppy was being fed a particular food by her breeder, she should be kept on that food, or switched to a new brand gradually. Of course, this is assuming that the customer wants to make that switch. For the first 2-3 days after the customer takes the new puppy home, she should be kept on the breeder's food. (Being removed from her mother and littermates is stressful enough without a sudden diet change.)

If you want to switch to a new food, you should do so gradually, mixing 10% of the new formula with 90% of the old food the first day, then adding the same amount of new food to the mix every day for the next 9 days, while taking away an equal amount of the old food, until the switch has been completed.

Puppies should not be free fed, unless this has been recommended by a veterinarian. Unlike cats, dogs will not regulate their own food intake, and free feeding will lead to obesity. Instead, it is better to feed measured portions several times a day. Small breed puppies should be put on a 3 times a day feeding schedule until the age of 6 months, then 2 times a day from 6-12 months, and once or twice a day after one year. Large breeds should be fed less often, so it’s easier to control the intake of calories and their rate of growth. As a general rule, feed large breeds 3 times a day until 3 months, 2 times a day from 3-6 months and then once or twice a day after that period.

Puppy Feeding Schedule General Guidelines